U.S. patent number 5,108,706 [Application Number 07/244,688] was granted by the patent office on 1992-04-28 for disposable hygienic support for cleaning and drying reactive diagnostic strips.
Invention is credited to Renato Saggiorato.
United States Patent |
5,108,706 |
Saggiorato |
April 28, 1992 |
Disposable hygienic support for cleaning and drying reactive
diagnostic strips
Abstract
A disposable hygienic support for cleaning and drying reactive
diagnostic strips, these strips exhibiting a reacting surface
portion in contact with which a fraction of biological material to
be analyzed is placed. The support comprises a substantially rigid
covering (1) and an element of absorbent material (3) fixed
therein. The element is accessible from at least two opposite ends
of the covering to permit the insertion of the strip, in such a
manner that its reactive portion is on the outside, and the removal
of the latter by passing the absorbent element through after a
predetermined time of reaction between the reactive portion and the
biological liquid. The invention provides a very useful article for
handling diagnostic strips in safety conditions.
Inventors: |
Saggiorato; Renato (11020 Saint
Crhistophe (AO), IT) |
Family
ID: |
11137552 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/244,688 |
Filed: |
September 15, 1988 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 25, 1987 [IT] |
|
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11753/87[U] |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
422/566; 436/169;
422/944; 206/204; 206/569; 422/568 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01L
3/505 (20130101); B01L 99/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01L
3/00 (20060101); B01L 11/00 (20060101); B01L
011/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;422/56,57,58,61,99,102,104 ;436/169 ;73/864.72
;206/204,206,569 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Warden; Robert J.
Assistant Examiner: Collins; Laura E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Browdy and Neimark
Claims
I claim:
1. A disposable hygienic support for cleaning and drying a reactive
surface at one of two ends of a diagnostic strip of an excess of
biological material to be analyzed placed on said surface, said
support comprising,
a substantially rigid covering means for retaining a diagnostic
strip and permitting access to two ends of said strip,
an element of absorbent material fixed to one side of said covering
means,
said covering means being open at least two opposite ends to permit
the insertion of said diagnostic strip,
a reactive surface on a first end of said diagnostic strip
projecting from one of said two opposite ends of said covering
means,
a second end of said diagnostic strip projecting from another of
said two opposite ends of said covering means to permit removal of
said diagnostic strip through said covering means,
wherein during removal of said diagnostic strip after a
predetermined time of reaction between said reactive surface and
biological material thereon, said reactive surface contacts said
element of absorbent material.
2. The support according to claim 1, wherein said covering means is
formed by a flat member folded into two parts along an intermediate
ribbing line, said element of absorbent material being anchored to
an internal face of at least one of said parts.
3. The support according to claim 2, wherein said at least one of
said parts of said flat member to which said element of absorbent
material is anchored exhibits an inverted V-shaped profile above
the other of said parts thereof.
4. The support according to claim 3, wherein said parts are
connected to each other along respective edges opposite to said
intermediate ribbing line.
5. The support according to claim 4, wherein the one of said parts
of flat member to which said element of absorbent material is not
fixed has an extended side for supporting the reactive surface of
said diagnostic strip.
6. The support according to claim 5, wherein the one of said parts
of said flat member to which said element of absorbent material is
fixed has a liftable flap formed at an intermediate position of the
side facing said extended side.
7. The support according to claim 5, wherein an opening is formed
on said one of the parts to which said element of absorbent
material is fixed, in correspondence to the latter and in a
position remote from said extended side.
Description
DESCRIPTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disposable hygienic support for
cleaning and drying reactive diagnostic strips which are commonly
used, not only in medical analysis laboratories, but also in
hospital departments, in medical out-patients departments and also
in the patient's home.
2. Background of the Invention
As is known, such strips are supports of synthetic material, at one
end of which a surface is fixed, referred to as the reactive
surface, on which the chemical system on which the reaction is
based has been absorbed or adsorbed. At the moment of use, such
surface is bathed, by immersion or by dripping, with the biological
material to be examined (blood, urine, serum, plasma, etc.). Such
material remains on the reactive surface for the time determined by
the method, after which it is removed, drying the strip with
absorbent material, or dripping or washing with water, depending
upon the type of reaction which takes place on the strip.
Subsequently the reaction proceeds, generally developing a colour
on the said reactive surface in proportion to the concentration of
the substance to be assayed.
Some of the instances of use of these reactive strips involve the
risk that extraneous persons (particularly the operator) and the
environment (particularly the surfaces on which the test are
undertaken) will become contaminated with the biological material
to be examined, thus involving the danger of infection and
contamination. There has been constantly increasing awareness of
the need to provide protection systems which are simple to use and
involve low cost, which permit the avoidance, or at least the
greatest possible limitation, of the risks of infection and
contamination, this need being emphasized, above all, following the
deepening of awareness concerning the diffusion routes of
particularly serious diseases, such as viral hepatitis and
Aids.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an
adequate protection, both for environments and for operators,
whether in the health sector or not, from the risk of contamination
with biological material during certain phases of implementation of
the tests using the reactive strips.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This object is achieved with the disposable hygienic support for
cleaning and drying reactive diagnostic strips according to the
invention, characterized in that it is composed of a substantially
rigid outer covering, in particular formed by a flat element folded
into two parts along an intermediate ribbing line, within which
there is anchored an element of absorbent material accessible from
at least two opposite ends of the said covering to permit the
passage of the said strips through the latter both at the time of
the arrangement of the strip in such a manner that its reactive
surface is on the outside, and on removing the said surface after a
predetermined time of reaction with the biological material, in
such a manner as to permit the cleaning and the drying thereof with
the absorbent element contained within the covering.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be illustrated in greater detail by the
description, which follows, of one of its embodiments, on an
exemplifying and not-limiting basis, given with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a hygienic support according to the present invention,
in which a reactive strip ready for use has been inserted on an
exemplifying basis;
FIG. 2 is a profile view of the support according to FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates the support of FIG. 1 in the open condition.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to the aforementioned figures, 1 indicates a
covering of substantially rigid or semirigid material formed by a
flat element folded into two parts 1a and 1b along a preprinted
transverse ribbing line 2. The flat element 1 may be constructed,
for example, of card which is preferably externally plasticoated,
in order to impart thereto a sufficient impermeability. On the
internal face of the two parts of the flat element 1, for example
on the internal face of the part 1b, there is fixed an absorbent
element 3 (for example cotton, gauze, cellulose in general,
synthetic material and the like). Along the two free sides of the
two parts 1a and 1b, parallel to the ribbing line 2, there extend
two tabs 4, by means of which the two aforementioned parts of the
flat element 1 are closed, for example by means of adhesive, in
such a manner as to form a substantially tubular covering which is
pressed down, in the present embodiment, within which the absorbent
element 3 is contained. A projected edge 5 is then provided along
one of the remaining sides of the part 1 a of the flat element 1,
i.e. that to which, in the present embodiment of the invention, the
absorbent element 3 is not fixed. Finally, the part 1b, to which
the absorbent element 3 is fixed, exhibits a further intermediate
transverse fold line 6, as a result of which the part 1b assumes a
shape which is substantially that of an inverted V broadly opened
out towards the internal face of part 1a.
In the use of the hygienic support according to the invention, a
reactive strip S is inserted within the flat element 1 which has
been folded and closed, and in particular between the internal face
of the part 1a and the absorbent element 3 fixed to the internal
face of the part 1b. The insertion is facilitated by the fact that
the part 1b is V-shaped, as a result of which, centrally, the
absorbent element 3 is not compressed against the internal face of
the part 1a. The reactive surface R of the strip S is positioned in
correspondence with the edge 6, which consequently acts as support
for the same, while the part 1a itself serves as sliding base for
the strip S. After the organic material has been deposited on the
reactive surface R, and the predetermined reaction time has
elapsed, the strip S is extracted from the covering in such a
manner that the reactive surface R slides in contact with the
absorbent element 3, which cleans it and dries it. During the
removal of the strip S, in order to ensure an improved contact with
the absorbent element 3, it is expedient to press the part 1b
centrally against the part 1a, in correspondence with the fold line
6. Once removed, the strip S is perfectly cleaned and dried and
ready for the completion of the reaction, while the covering 1 is
thrown away.
It may be advantageous to provide on the part of the covering 1 to
which the absorbent element 3 is fixed (the part 1b, in the
embodiment illustrated here) a liftable edge 7 taken along the
transverse fold line 6 in correspondence with the margin close to
the projecting edge 5, on which rests the portion of the strip S
carrying the reactive surface R. In this way, even in the presence
of reactive surfaces of solid thickness, the entrance of such
surface R between the part 1a and the absorbent element 3 is not
obstructed. By virtue of this expedient, moreover, the contact
pressure which the absorbent element exerts on the reactive surface
R is substantially constant from one test to the other and
independent of the pressure exerted by the operator. It must, in
fact, be borne in mind that, while the operator presses on the zone
8 of the support, which zone is indicated by the broken line in
FIG. 1, the cleaning of the reactive surface R takes place almost
exclusively in correspondence with the absorbent area portion 3
underneath, or near, the liftable edge 7. This ensures a marked
reliability of the results of the tests.
In particular, when the reactive strip is used for tests on blood,
a drop of which is generally taken from a finger, the part 1b may
exhibit an opening in correspondence with the zone 8. From such
opening a portion of the absorbent element 3 underneath is
accessible, which can therefore be used to clean the point where
the blood is taken. In this case, the absorbent element may be
formed by two distinct elements, one of which is applied in
proximity to the liftable edge 7 and intended to clean the reactive
strip, and the other applied in correspondence with the opening 8
to clean the finger.
Clearly, the configuration and the dimensions of the disposable
hygienic support according to the present invention, illustrated
above, are purely exempliflying and indicative, and it is clear
that this may be implemented in any tubular or non-tubular
conformation (for example folding) provided that it is suitable for
the positioning of a reactive strip and for its subsequent cleaning
and drying by means of contact with an absorbent element contained
therein. The covering 1 may then be constructed of any suitable
material, provided that it has sufficient rigidity and, preferably,
impermeability, such as, for example, polystyrene, PVC, tin foil,
possibly covered with PVC, etc. The absorbent element 3 may also be
impregnated with chemical substances of various types, which are
suitable, for example, to react with the reactive surface or with
other specific properties.
The disposable hygienic support according to the invention may be
supplied in packs containing one or more units, possibly contained
in cellophane-wrapped bags. Moreover, the hygienic support
according to the invention may advantageously be supplied in
combination with the reactive strip in suitable packs in foil,
already inserted into the support and ready for use.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment described and
illustrated above, but includes any variants of implementation
thereof.
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